The Future Is Today

Katech 416 is a short-block V-8, long on 600-plus-horsepower

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Most car enthusiasts are well aware that a project car comes with a whole lot of baggage, namely in picking and sourcing appropriate parts. The engine is especially important, and depending on the individual’s goals, making a lot of horsepower can get really expensive, really quickly.

Enter Katech, the Michigan-based performance company, and their latest starting spot for a high-power engine: a 416 cubic inch V-8 short block with an affordable price and plenty of potential for lofty horsepower figures. The 416 engine starts life with General Motors’ 6.2-liter LS3 V-8 aluminum engine block, though Katech honed the engine 4 inches to provide clearance for a stroker crankshaft. The modification adds 40 cubic inches of displacement to arrive at the 416 figure, up from the LS3’s 376-cubic-inch displacement.

From there, the company installed a handful of additional high-performance components to ensure 600 horsepower isn’t out of reach in the simplest applications including Mahle pistons, rings and wrist pins, and 6.125-inch Callies H-beam connecting rods. Katech says 600 hp is only a starting point. More power is possible without forced induction, but 900-plus hp figures should be a breeze in boosted applications.

Katech sells the other components required to finish assembly of the 416 short block engine, namely the camshaft, but at a price of $ 5,899, it’s a fairly solid deal. The masterminds at Katech will also tune and test customers’ engines since, well, they know what they’re doing.